James B. “Jim” Potter, a Seattle real-estate developer known for his creativity, died Tuesday in the presence of family and close friends after a short battle with cancer. He was 58.

Friends and family say Potter led a life balanced between business and family. He put family first, frequently taking them on adventures, from camping trips to a yearlong trip to South America. In business, he saw things that no one else did and then started companies based on those observations.

Born on Sept. 23, 1955 in Seattle, he attended Te Aroha College in New Zealand in 1972-73 before graduating from Nathan Hale High School in 1974 and the University of Washington in 1978. He married Rebecca Ann Potter in 1980 and is survived by her; their three grown children: Wesley, Jayred and Lisa-Baylee; his mother and father, Bill and Joan Potter; brother Doug (Karen) and sister Jill; and an aunt, cousins, nieces and nephews.

His interest in development started informally when he was about 12 years old. In his family's back yard, he built a three-story tree house in one tree and another tree house about 20 feet away. He connected them with a bridge.

Potter, who lived in Snohomish, formally started his career as a sales agent in residential and commercial real estate in 1974 with a concentration on multifamily land and buildings. In 1984, he established a real estate development company of multifamily properties. As the business grew, he founded Kauri Investments Ltd.

“As anyone who knew Jim knows, he was a planner and forward thinker,” said Kent Angier, president and CEO of Kauri. “After being diagnosed he spent his last three months as he lived – divided between his family and friends and putting his affairs in order so that his businesses could live long beyond him. Jim was larger than life in so many ways and has been both an inspiration and mentor to me and more people than I can count in both how he lived as a family man and how he did business.”

Potter had many areas of expertise, including the state Growth Management Act, city of Seattle zoning code, investment strategies, permit processing, multifamily construction, building rehabilitation and property management.

His family operating company, La Serena Holdings, is an asset manager company involved in more than 50 real estate projects from Olympia to Burlington, Skagit County. La Serena also manages several operating companies, including Lynnwood Bowl and Skate and the Seattle Hostel at the American Hotel in Seattle's Chinatown-International District.

Potter also founded Footprint Investments LLC, a developer of micro-housing, or small apartments, in Seattle. Footprint Investments is now expanding in Portland and Oakland, Calif. He often said that he felt like all of his 40 years in real estate led to micro-housing, which lets people live affordably in cities.

In 2013 he hired Cathy Reines as Footprint CEO. “Jim gave us the foundation to fulfill his vision to drive micro-housing globally,” she said.

“Jim was one of the most creative real estate developers that I’ve ever had the privilege of working with,” said Dan Piantanida, vice president of G.P. Realty Finance. “He always had the ability to find niches that were not being served by traditional real estate developers. It was that instinct that was one of the main factors leading to the birth of micro-housing. He was a dear friend and mentor, and I miss him tremendously.”

Erin Scannell, a business associate and close friend, said, “I was attracted to Jim because of his desire to have a positive impact on people’s lives."

Scannell recalled Potter's love for travel and his interest in people's life stories. "I cannot count the number of times Jim would meet someone new at a meeting, on a plane trip, on a chamber mission or some other trip and next thing you knew he would be telling Rebecca he had invited them to dinner, or to stay at their home during their visit to Seattle," Scannell said.

Scannell remembered Potter's wide-ranging business interests. When Scannell asked him why he did so many different things, Potter said it was because he was having fun.

Potter served on the boards of Wellspring Family Services of King County and America; Master Builders of King and Snohomish County, including as president in 2006; Boy Scouts of America; Seattle Rotary; Associates in Cultural Exchange; Seattle Academies Foundation; the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce; Washington State Affordable Housing Advisory Board; the Burke Museum; and other civic groups. He was a longtime Seattle Rotarian and served as co-chair of the Sustainability Committee.